In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,201, and my co-pending application Ser. No. 09/266,842, filed on Mar. 12, 1999, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference, there are disclosed a penetration resistant protective armor constructions which afford a number of important advantages. Although the armor construction of my patent certainly serves its intended purpose and, insofar as I am aware, does so in a manner that is superior to all body armor presently available on the market, the present invention concerns further improvements in such armor constructions.
As discussed in the above-mentioned application Ser. No. 09/266,842, one important aspect of the damage done by a bullet upon impact is referred to as blunt action trauma. In general, this is the impact trauma produced by the bullet in the immediate area of impact, in addition to the penetration damage. In a clay test target used to simulate the body, this trauma is manifested by a substantial blunt deformation of the clay around the entry site of the bullet. It will be appreciated that in some instances this blunt trauma can be more significant than the damage done by the passage of the bullet itself into and/or through the body depending, for example, on whether the bullet strikes a vital organ or the like.